Peter Craven/grand Opening

[INCOGNITO 357]

How great to see one of the most famous clubs in speedway in a brand new stadium befitting their great history.

Every time I hear the name Belle Vue, I can't help but think of Peter Craven,one of the greatest English riders ever, and by far the most spectacular of the so-called big 5, of the old National League.

There is no better meeting than this to start of this new era in the club's history.

They have not had the success of old lately, but who knows, this new stadium may pave the way to more success.

One thing for sure, Poole will never be regarded in the same way as Belle-Vue, they will be remembered for something different altogether.

May tonight's meeting be a huge success, with much more to come.

 

 

 

How much is this post absolutely the opposite way around.

 

track not ready

 

Stadium not ready

 

Not got the balls to call this off days ago

 

 

 

meanwhile Poole keep going on winning !!

 

Was told by many the track would be ok.

I bet many from Wolves will not be going to their away meeting there.

 

 

I can't see it being on after witnessing this fiasco.

 

Track needs to be done by a proper track team like Doc Bridget or Glyn Taylor

 

 

I fell sorry for the organisers , they have been let down by the riders , 16 national league boys would just have got on with it and made the best of it , apparently there was a meeting and a riders vote , I would like to know the names of those who refused to ride , they have let british speedway down , not that the likes of Woffinden and pedersen care about British speedway

 

The track was not ready

 

Name the riders who didn't want to put their necks on the line to save the biggest idiot up in speedway .... read the programme and you can read the list (Inc Bomber who fair play came out to speak but only when it was said that it was not there fault but the riders don't want to ride. Then he came out to say Don't blame us for this mess)

 

 

Utter shambles and there are lots of things that I noticed that needs work doing at the stadium and one big point is the safety of the riders in the pits and the fans on the bends.

[Red Panda 366]

Ah, you must have got round to reading the official statement then.

 

Track not 'unsafe' and management blaming the weather, not the riders.

 

Pity you didn't read it before shyt stirring.

Oh grow up..............I take it you have not seen the video that Hans Andersen posted raising concerns..............or comments from other riders and indeed ex BV riders about how unsafe it was...............and yes at one point the management did blame the riders..............some friends who were there clearly heard a member of the management team say that after they did the official announcement..............

 

Pity you are blinkered and taking one riders view rather than looking at the bigger picture..............no one is going to want to see a meeting on a track that is rideable but not raceable.............what is the point in holding it if they cannot race............

 

RP

[iris123 20,983]

My understanding of the rules(flimsy,i know) are that a rider must race at all times.Just riding around could and sometimes does get him excluded.In fact I remember at an indoor meeting on what was a dangerous track where a number of riders were injured that 1 or maybe 2 riders did get excluded for what the ref thought was "not racing".......

Edited March 20, 2016 by iris123

[thebaron 434]

will there ever be another capacity?

There maybe ? But if your looking for a previous example. Go back to Odsal Bradford in 1986. The opening meeting v Sheffield there were a reported 10000 fans outside waiting to get in. It rained and they called it off. We never recovered despite 11 years of top class speedway that followed. Yes there were two World Finals staged and some big crowds for those and other shared events in those years. But the regular Saturday meetings never reached anywhere near that level of crowd and it never recovered. Eric Boothroyd and the Ham Bros would tell you this.

 

There may be a second chance for the New Belle Vue; but as someone already states never a second chance of making a first impression. A successful staging yesterday could have had a massive impact on the sport. Thank goodness Sky did not elect to cover it gulp !

 

Hey on the plus side anyone who is still in the area and wants to take in sone guaranteed top notch Speedway today. Get in your cars and head across to Scunthorpe v Ipswich !. I know you are probably Speedwayed Off but we promise to restore your faith. 3pm tapes up best track in Britain and weather looking cracking.

 

Sorry for everyone involved; but we know only too well that rider safety is paramount. Just a shame after all the good work and goodwill that the track was not tested to destruction long before the opening night. Or was that too blooming obvious !.

Edited March 20, 2016 by the outsider

[sommelier 1,118]

The highlight for me yesterday was getting out the stadium to have a cigarette!

[ouch 1,191]

My most used comment of 2016 will be, so they'll ride on that but couldn't ride the Belle Vue track back in March?

 

Rider safety is paramount - when it suits. We've had pages and pages on here over the years about meetings being forced through on tracks far worse than last night just to get a result. All I want is consistency so we now where we stand.

I spoke to management last night and told them they were not at fault. In hindsight they were as they booked these prima donnas who let's not forget have form for this kind of thing.

 

Have I ever ridden a speedway bike, no but I'm no chef either but I'd be quick to complain if the performance of the chef was not up to scratch. Ex riders I spoke to last night plus those on social media are of the opinion it should have gone ahead. Just as they all questioned the rides following the Warsaw walk out.

 

If I was in the rider meeting last night I have just said right you lot who don't want to ride pack up and go. We'll promote the reserves and run some part filled heats.

 

I'm probably biased in my opinions as I've been a supporter for forty odd years and I'm use to the gladiators of old and find these highly paid pussies hard to watch a lot if the time. I guess it's modern day speedway but at least I've got The Colts to watch again. Should have had them on standby last night once the "stars" started bleating on social media.

[MattK 3,447]

My most used comment of 2016 will be, so they'll ride on that but couldn't ride the Belle Vue track back in March?

 

Rider safety is paramount - when it suits. We've had pages and pages on here over the years about meetings being forced through on tracks far worse than last night just to get a result. All I want is consistency so we now where we stand.

I spoke to management last night and told them they were not at fault. In hindsight they were as they booked these prima donnas who let's not forget have form for this kind of thing.

 

Have I ever ridden a speedway bike, no but I'm no chef either but I'd be quick to complain if the performance of the chef was not up to scratch. Ex riders I spoke to last night plus those on social media are of the opinion it should have gone ahead. Just as they all questioned the rides following the Warsaw walk out.

 

If I was in the rider meeting last night I have just said right you lot who don't want to ride pack up and go. We'll promote the reserves and run some part filled heats.

 

I'm probably biased in my opinions as I've been a supporter for forty odd years and I'm use to the gladiators of old and find these highly paid pussies hard to watch a lot if the time. I guess it's modern day speedway but at least I've got The Colts to watch again. Should have had them on standby last night once the "stars" started bleating on social media.

 

I hate the term "keyboard warrior" but I've read some absolute nonsense since 7pm last night where people have been saying the riders should have just got on with it.

 

Everyone's an expert when it isn't their neck on the line.

[iris123 20,983]

Surely the thing to do then in this situation was for the management to get together with Harris and all those other riders who thought the meeting could go ahead and put on some demo heats and still give the fans entry to the restaged meeting or even the SWC.Everyone wins apart from those riders who didn't want to compete,who would be outed......

[Red Panda 366]

You are still at it!!

 

Some random friends DIDN'T hear anyone BLAME the riders, the management explained the meeting had been abandoned because the riders weren't happy with the track. That isn't blaming the riders is it?

 

Either you or your friends are trying to twist what was said to fit your sad point of view, what for?

 

Harris said the track was rideable, he was the only rider to actually explain the riders point of view. The 'other riders' you refer to were too busy not giving a shyt to come and say anything.

Accusing me and my friends of lying is unacceptable.............you were clearly not in the there when it was said to them (which was not on the centre green I hasten to add.................) so none of us have twisted anything.............if you want to believe that what was said on the centre green was everything that needed to be said then so be it.............a lot of other people know otherwise and better...............

 

I have said all I have to say on the subject now so when you can see fit to stop spouting shyt as you call it and apologise I will happily accept it..........

 

RP

[Star Lady 5,400]

The whole debacle wa reported on BBC Breakfast including an interview with Tai and provoked a discussion amongst the presenters.

 

Now would that have happened had the meeting gone ahead as planned?

 

It's a funny old world!!!

[Halifaxtiger 5,318]

No. If had gone ahead people would have complained that the racing was rubbish and that it was just a ploy to avoid giving people their money back.

 

If it had got halfway through and had to be abandoned because the track had cut up too badly then what ? Send the crowd home with no refund ? The crowd would have loved that.

 

There is only one party to blame. The clue is in the word "management".

 

Lets face it, poor meetings on poor tracks are hardly unheard of. Not the norm, maybe, but common enough. Read the barrage of criticism that Ipswich got on Thursday, or the updates from Leicester (4 passes in 15 heats) yesterday afternoon. Those meetings were on 'proper' tracks and at Leicester the shape has apparently been adapted during the winter to improve the quality of the racing.

 

Would such a meeting from Belle Vue have been so much worse ?

 

I believe most were there for the occasion, not the racing.

 

The real point is of course that had it gone ahead it would be most difficult indeed to blame the riders in anyway whatsoever. As it is, reading this thread, facebook and twitter I am anything but the only one who - at this stage at least - believes that while the poor track is down to Belle Vue, the abandonment is down to them.

 

 

 

One of the issues so many of us have with sport is getting heat 10 for a rain off. Just running heats for the sake of it is what kills the sport. Of the track isn't fit then racing should not happen.

 

Under normal circumstances, I'd agree. But this isn't normal circumstances.

 

Its an open meeting with a huge attendance for what is a unique occasion.

 

While the quality of the field would have attracted some, as I have said I suspect most would simply have been wanted to be part of the occasion and the quality of the speedway would have been secondary. In that, its similar to the GP at Cardiff; I know people who won't go to another meeting all season but go there simply because of the atmosphere.

 

 

I'm sure the people who paid 20 ,25 or 65 quid will prefer to have their money back rather than see a stage managed form of a demonstration meeting

 

Would they ?

 

The question is whether monetary refunds would have been given in the event of postponement or whether tickets would have been valid for a future occasion - the latter, after all, is far more normal practice in speedway.

 

Even if the meeting had been cancelled two weeks ago, some would still have lost hotel deposits and payments. If it was a case of tickets valid for a future meeting only, many could not have gone and the field would be nowhere near the same calibre. Finally, it would not be the first meeting at the new stadium.

 

As I have said, my suspicion is many would just have wanted to be there for the first meeting. Huge attendances for opening meetings at places like Kent and Redcar prove that.

 

Better to just get your money back than see a poor meeting but be able to say you were there ? That's debatable at best.

[Midland Red 2,383]

I wonder which riders didn't want to ride

 

Riders were happy to ride but not happy to race

And the punters came to see racing, not riding

[Halifaxtiger 5,318]

 

I hate the term "keyboard warrior" but I've read some absolute nonsense since 7pm last night where people have been saying the riders should have just got on with it.

 

Everyone's an expert when it isn't their neck on the line.

 

That's unfair. He clearly refers to safety first.

 

I think the whole crux of this issue is whether necks were on the line any more than at most meetings.

[Grachan 7,362]

This brings back memories of the opening meeting at Bristol back in the 1970s, which I went to.

 

Massive crowd. There were even cars parked on the hard shoulder of the motorway to get a free look.

 

The track was a complete disaster. It was like a rutted sand pit. Probably worse than the Belle Vue track yesterday.

 

The meeting went ahead. Some riders pulled out after their first race, including Martin Ashby.

 

Riders were all over the place, and in heat 13 three riders were injured. Martin Ashby would have been in that race had he not pulled out.

 

I wasn't there yesterday, so I don't know how the track was, but from videos posted online it seems rideable, even if not raceable.

 

Surely, bearing in mind the importance of thid meeting for Belle Vue, they could have put some exhibition rides for the benefit of the crowd and made an event of it.

 

Then, after that, the track could be relaid properly.

[Halifaxtiger 5,318]

 

Riders were happy to ride but not happy to race

And the punters came to see racing, not riding

 

Interesting.

 

The question is whether those who were there have preferred to see a poor meeting or an abandonment and nothing at all.

 

If its the case - as I believe - that they were there more for the occasion, there's only one answer to that.